If you want a third row look at the Envoy. Make sure you get the high ratio final drive and tow package. The 4.2 straight six will pull it but the 5.3 is a bit better. If you're OK with 5 seats then get the Saab 9-7x version. It's already got everything you want to tow. Acadia class is too light on the tow capacity.

We almost bought a 2006 Envoy Denali EX. But could not see towing our old 232 Rinker cuddy (6,300 pounds wet) with it so went full size. Now that we have a lighter Moomba XLV (4,900 pounds wet)we are thinking about going smaller again. You could pickup a nice used one with the 5.3 for under $20K maybe closer to $15K with higher miles. The wife really likes the Buick, sister to the Outlook, Acaida, and Traverse. For 09 they increased the cap to 5,200 which would be fine for Ohio, but the hills to out condo at Norris I think it would fail.

You could do an Explorer with the 4.6L V8 it tows 7300lbs and you can get excellent deals on an 07 or 08 slightly used. You can check out their reviews Here Explorer It's consumer report recommended and it gets the highest safety rating.

If you wanna spend a little more of course Denali's and Tahoes or Expeditions are very nice too and their fuel economy is all close.

You are not supporting America by buying a used Chevy or GMC jackass...... Even if your buying new your supporting the billionaire CEO who already shut down half the plants in US and moved the operations to Canada or Mexico and now begging for a bailout check to support thier lifestyle... So if your definition of "American" is supporting those on welfare, go ahead.

Support yourself and buy the best vehicle for your buck. Last time I checked, the owners of any auto manufacturer were not looking out for you!

I tow with a 2007 Avalanche, I know, no third row. My wife has an '08 Tahoe. Both do fine (8200lbs) and I'm towing an '08 X-Star. I couldn't ask for anything more. I would stay away from the diesels. Too problematic from what I've seen.

I wouldnt think of towing without anything other than a diesel after towing with both a gas and a diesel. I love my F-250 and get great fuel mileage with or without a boat hooked to it. I used to tow with a Suburban but it sucked the gas and couldnt keep brakes on it. They are just too soft in the rear end IMO. I guess it depends on how much you will actually be towing your boat and how far. The mountains play havoc on tow vehicles here so gotta have something to hold up.Good luck with whatever you decide on still have a little while before the season really gets going in full swing but if fuel prices continue to drop the price of an SUV will just increase.

how about an old diesel ford excursion. You can fit a small village in one of those and it will pull an 18 wheeler! They don't make them anymore, I think, but a used one would come cheap. Repairs are a biotch, just warning.

I swear by 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburbans. My current 2001 has 175,000 miles on it, and it's still going strong. I have the 8.1 liter which is awesome, but they discontinued it a few years back. The 6.0 liter should still be plenty though, especially if you can find one with a 4.10 rear end.

Excursion is also a good choice, IMHO the Subs and Excursions are the only third seaters with any real usable space behind that third row.

I get 20 mpg highway in the 7.3L . There are some really nice older excursions out there with the third row. 2005 was the last year they built them if I'm not mistaken. I change my own oil which saves me about 40 bucks per oil change. The only thing about a diesel that gets pricey is motor work from the dealer but knock on wood I've not or want to experience that. The Toyota is awful on fuel mileage when pulling. I used one just once and it got 7 mpg when pulling an 07 Avalanche.

I have a 2003 f250 superduty psd ford lariet and i get maybe 14 mpg mixed but i drive normal to fast all the time,like 70-80 on the highway and get on it at lights..ive tried driving slower and could only get like 17mpg at like 60-65 mph and never passing anybody ,like granny driving almost..

my truck is the 4x4 and its stock and im not sure what the rear end and transmission gearing are but i can only dream of 20mpgs ..

hey bro i have 130k, im 20 and rag the hell out of this thing, there tanks the best chip hands down is DP Tuner, iv tryed bullydog, no ts, no and edje, no intake any really i have k&n mbrp 4" alluminized i pull my 25 foot enclosed unnorth 240 miles each way, i have a 21 foot landscaping trailor i pull 3 days a week around town and my boat up north havnt had 1 problem sence i bought it with 60k on it i would never leave my truck stock just for the fuel milage reason, the tuner is stock,20hp,40hp,80hp best fuel mileage,140,140 smoke setting it just poors out black smoke

Bill- ive got 4 inch exhaust and an edge juice with attitude programmer which cost 700 bucks installed. The stock intake is on the truck since Ive been told by a few guys that actually make their living from working on these trucks that an intake doesnt have much effect if any on the 7.3's like it does on the 6 and 6.4's. I always run it in the level 5 (Extreme) setting except when towing. I have 88k on the motor. I def know what you mean about needing to be a little more patient but you will see a huge jump in fuel mileage if you dont pour the coal to it as soon as the light turns green or drop it back a notch on the highway. Pour a can of SeaFoam thru your next tank of fuel and see if that helps.

i love my edge programmer and whats the point of having more power if you cant use it. YES id love to have it but i dont need it plus more power means you are going to beef up the transmission and then driveshafts after that along with rear end and axles. the juice with attitude has 5 power settings that is shift on the fly with the module to read EGT's, boost, RPM's. it is a lil pricey but hey i picked up 5mpgs switching to it over stock.

bill- the 700 is just for the programmer and install but i also had to pay tennessee tax for those of you know SUCKS at almost 10%. i didnt have the tools needed to drill and tap the exhaust manifold thats why i paid to have it done. exhaust is single cat back but was already installed on the truck when i bought it. by intake yes i am referring to something along the lines of k&n upgrade.

08 sequoia tow vehicle here. got it when they first came out. Plenty of power to tow. 1st and 2nd row plenty of room. 3rd row is small but doable. exceeded expectations in everything except gas mileage.

I went with the Avalanche and have been pretty happy with how it tows the Vride. The Tahoes & Suburbans have 3rd row seating & are the same chassis, running gear & tow capacity..... around 7700 lbs., get 15 - 20 mpg., and are usually very reasonable price.

Hey Rocky, is Malibu ready to send you to all our houses to make sure our boats are doin good? Sounds like you have the time to make it happen!

hmm im not very good at math but im thinking if the tuner saves me 5mpg and my tank is 26 gals ,then thats about an extra 130miles per tank and divided by my current mpg(i know not exact calcualtions) then thats about a saving $10 a fillup?

so just using the lowest minimum fillups per week which would be one i guess thats about $580 a year.any more fillups would equal more savings so maybe it would take about one year to eighteen months to get a return on my investment?

or am i way off??

maybe using $57 to fill up a 26 gal tank at current prices at 130 more mile gives me 7.2 gals more in savings at $2.20 a gal=maybe 15.8 dollar savings per fillup with an ROI of apprx $826 dollars a year?

well i suck at math, like i said ,so dont flame me if im way off

if so how do i calcualte my ROI in this case spending about 1k on upgrades?

Well this thread has gone way off on a tangent but currently I'm winning a 04 Yukon XL Denali AWD with a 6.0L Engine. That should work. Anybody have experience with this one and is there something I can do to it to get better MPG?